ANKARA — Only in Turkey can accused “terrorists” overwhelm the shelves of Turkish bookstores from behind bars. These trendy new jailhouse authors that include Turkish military officers, academicians and journalists have published more than 60 books. Many of them have been detained since June 2007 under a colossal trial called the “Ergenekon,” that accused 275 but convicted none of plotting to overthrow Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
At the TUYAP book fair in Istanbul recently, it was mind boggling to see the number of bestselling authors who wrote their oeuvres from behind bars.
